Politics

Former S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford wins hotly contested U.S. House seat

Mark Sanford is projected to win a special congressional election in South Carolina. The former governor competed against Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch in the race for the open seat. Sanford was able to overcome a personal scandal to get back in the political spotlight. During a six-day absence in 2009 in which he first said he was hiking the Appalachian Trail, he later admitted he spent time in Argentina with a woman.

On the final day of the race, he made ten campaign appearances in South Carolina's 1st Congressional District. Sanford was in his second term as governor in 2009 when the disappearing act came up. Sanford and his then-wife Jenny divorced in 2010.